Many searches made by internet users involve some geographic components. The search itself may include geographic information, such as an address for which a map and driving directions are sought. The search may also implicitly call for geographic results, such as when the search includes the name of a business having a physical location. Such searches may be received by, and/or the results delivered by, an information provider service such as Google Maps.
Application programming interfaces (APIs) may permit third parties to extend the functionality of a geographic information provider service. For example, using an API, programmers have taken data from apartment and house listings and have created applications that show those listings on a map such as with Google Maps (e.g., http://www.housingmaps.com/).